November 22nd, 2005 - Crossing Over book review
I always gravitate to books about the Amish and other such sects because they appear to embody the simple life. So recently, I picked up Crossing Over: One Woman’s Exodus from Amish Life (Amazon link) by Ruth Irene Garrett with Rick Farrant. This book, however, reveals a different side of the Old Order Amish community in which Irene grew up, and eventually left. There are certainly plenty of images of the simple life, but it’s a very inflexible, harsh life as well. What I found most interesting, I think, is the degree to which she left behind some of the simplicity when she left. For example, her garden is dependent upon Miracle Gro!
Could be an interesting read, but it doesn’t fit into the Simple Living category.
She has written a couple other books as well….all but the most recent of which I’ve now requested via ILL. (The latest was just published, and sounds like it will be the most likely to fit the Simple Living category. It’s the first in a series of books about a young Amish girl and her life.)